There have been attempts to provide three-dimensional (3D) imaging of data to facilitate analysis of the data for various applications, including for use in medical imaging for example. Medical personnel have an important need to see and visualize image data of the structure and condition of a patient's internal anatomical structures. Such image data may be generated by non-invasive techniques, such as by imaging modalities which produce three dimensional (3D) image information. These techniques include, for example, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), tomographic gamma scintillation imaging, ultrasound imaging, nuclear medical imaging/spectroscopy and other techniques.
Using such medical imaging techniques, extremely large data sets are produced in many cases. The mere volume of data can make it prohibitive to attempt to use the data in generating display of the image data. It would be desirable to use the entire image data set to generate a 3D display of image data in real time, but prior attempts at volumetrically displaying the image data have not produced a system or methods which allow for such rendering while making it possible to manipulate the data for evaluation and analysis. The data sets in many cases are simply too large to handle in known display systems. Thus, such attempts have been directed at reducing the size of the data set and interpolating the data to produce a volumetric display without using all the available data. Such attempts produce results of limited value as important structures, details or information may not be seen in the displayed data. Further, it would be desirable to provide a system and methods which allow large data sets from any type of imaging device, regardless of manufacturer and/or imaging techniques, where volumetric data is produced. This includes, but is not limited to MRI data, ultrasound data, PET scan data, CT scan data, Echo data or any other imaging devices or technologies.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a medical image data display system and methods which produces a 3D volumetric representation of internal anatomical structures produced from a medical imaging technique, using all available data and providing the physician or other observer with the ability to manipulate the displayed image data interactively in real time such that the object may be viewed from various directions and in various modes in real time. It would also be desirable to generate a real time display of volumetric image data for viewing in a 3D stereoscopic format.
Other environments and applications also generate extremely large volumetric data sets, such as in the acquisition of image data using digital microscopy such as from a confocal microscope, for example, or in the acquisition of seismic data representative of a volume of earth or other medium, weather system data or in other areas. Prior systems and methods may not be suitable for real-time volume rendering to visualize a large-scale volume data set, in terms of handling the data and being cost-effective. Although very expensive and sophisticated dedicated systems may provide certain features, the cost and end user availability of such systems is prohibitive for general use. It would be desirable to provide a system which both gives high resolution of the data with stereoscopic viewing and real time manipulation of the image data for effectively visualizing information contained therein in a cost effective solution.
Prior systems are further generally unable to handle time varying data sets, which generally cannot be rendered in a form where the data can be viewed based upon its time relationship with other related data. For example, in medical imaging it would be desirable to provide the ability to image time varying data to perceive differences between the data over time. Generally, time varying data is not able to be rendered for viewing in a coherent manner, and cannot be rendered in real time to allow a user to interact with the data in the desired way.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional, traditional, and proposed approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems and methods with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.